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Today, Vectra Networks published its second edition Post-Intrusion Report that offers a first-hand look at modern threats that get past perimeter security and spread inside the network.

In the latest report, we analyzed behaviors and techniques across the entire lifecycle of real-world cyber attacks. We also looked back and saw alarming changes in the threat landscape and observed emerging trends in attack techniques.

Periodically, articles are published highlighting the difficulty authorities have investigating illegal activity on the Internet when the perpetrators make use of the anonymity that Tor provides.

Last week saw another such article appear in The Wall Street Journal, highlighting an operation that took down more than four hundred Web sites accessible only via Tor, which are essentially Tor “services”, arrested 17 people and confiscated plenty of Bitcoins associated with running these web sites. These web sites are referred to as “darknet marketplaces” and basically connect purveyors of illegal goods (e.g., drugs, guns) and services (e.g., contract killings) with people seeking these things. An August article in Wired spent more time detailing how the FBI goes about fighting the demand side of the problem – by infecting machines belonging to potential seekers of such goods and services via drive-by-downloads.